Although Right Sector (Pravy Sektor) played an instrumental role in the coup, its radical nationalism bordering on fascism continues to be an embarrassment for the new regime as it courts the IMF, the EU and the United States.

The corporate media has tried to underplay the violent character of the organization, but Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of Right Sector, made this virtually impossible when he allegedly made an appeal to Chechen terrorist leader Doku Umarov to assist the ultra-nationalist group in its crusade against Russia. In addition to courting al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists, Right Sector is opposed to the prospect of Ukraine joining the European Union.

Numerous incidents of violence and intimidation by Right Sector have gone unreported in the West. “In the days since the US-backed coup, according to citizens in Ukrainian I am in contact with, after the new regime dissolved the National Police, members of the Right Sector took over police functions in Kiev.